Company Registration

Company Registration FAQs

The Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) is a national initiative set up by the construction industry to improve its image. Membership of the Scheme is endorsed by local authorities, the Government, main contractors and major industry clients.

The benefits of membership include:

Nationally recognised, recommended by local authorities, the government, main contractors and major industry clients.

Gain a competitive edge with prospective clients by demonstrating a commitment to high standards.

Viewed positively by planning authorities, demonstrating a commitment to community engagement and minimising impact.

Independent assessment by experienced industry professionals who will also advise and guide.

Assess and benchmark performance and strive for development and improvement.

Considerate Constructors Scheme branding and recognition.

Listing on the Scheme’s website and access to the online portal, where you can manage your registration.

For companies with an annual turnover up to £3.5m, the fee covers all sites that the company works on or manages.

For companies with a turnover greater than £3.5m, all activities under six weeks duration are covered but all projects over six weeks in duration must be separately registered with the Scheme. However, all subcontractor work is covered with no requirement to register sites separately. To register projects over six weeks, please click here for Site Registration.

Yes, before you are able to complete the application to become a registered company you will be required to complete a series of preliminary checks to ensure that you are eligible for membership.

The following restrictions apply:

Individual contracts cannot be registered on the Company Scheme; they must be registered under the Scheme’s Site Registration.

All companies wishing to register with the Scheme will be required to provide copies of up-to-date Employer’s and Public Liability insurance documents. Registration cannot be verified until we are in possession of this.

Company Registration may not count towards BREEAM, Ska or any other similar accreditations. These ratings apply to specific projects whilst company membership reports on your company’s practices as a whole. If you are working towards one of these accreditations and you want the score from a Monitor’s report to count towards either of these, you must register the project individually under the Scheme’s Site Registration.

If registration is made at the request of your client and they require reports on a specific project, you should register the project individually under the Scheme’s Site Registration.

Scheme signage material is dispatched after the initial office visit has been completed and the Monitor has confirmed that you have suitable systems, processes and working practices in place to become a registered company.

All registered companies are provided with Scheme branded products as part of their initial registration. The quantity of A3 posters and vehicle stickers provided is determined by the type and volume of work covered by the registration.

Additional products are available to purchase online to promote and enhance registration with the Scheme. To view the current product list please click here.

All Scheme material e.g. posters, banners, stickers, etc. must be purchased from the Scheme to ensure consistency in the brand and quality of the signage being distributed. Reproduction of Scheme signage or the logo in any circumstances is prohibited.

Once your registration has been approved by the Monitor you can request a personalised company logo bearing your unique membership ID number. The logo can be emailed in a PDF, JPEG or EPS format. For details on our logo usage guidelines please click here.

Please note that the logo should not be sign written onto any company vehicles. All vehicle signage must be purchased in the form of a removable sticker directly from the Scheme.

Once a company is registered, their details are issued to one of the Scheme’s experienced Monitors who will contact the company to arrange a suitable time to carry out an office visit.

Initial office visit

This is an annual visit which is an opportunity to review a company’s performance against the areas of the Scheme’s Code of Considerate Practice, and ensure that the company is meeting the expectations of registration. It will be a detailed discussion around the relevant questions and prompts within the Monitors’ Checklist and a review of the company’s processes, policies and systems.

The office visit will result in the issuing of a report and an ‘indicative’ score that reflects their ‘assumed’ or expected performance against the Scheme’s criteria based on discussions, observations and evidence where available.

Companies will receive an indicative score for each section of the Code, which will normally be given as a range, e.g. between 6 and 7, or between 7 and 8 as the Monitor is unlikely to be able to give a definitive view without seeing how the company operates ‘in the field’. This will give an indication of the performance rating that the company might achieve once the validation visits have been carried out.

If the Monitor is happy that the company is performing to at least the basic expectations of registration, the company will receive the appropriate registration material (including Scheme branded posters and vehicle stickers) along with a Certificate of Registration.

Companies failing to meet the basic expectations will be monitored again, once sufficient time has been allowed for non-compliance issues to be addressed.

Validation visits

Following on from the initial office visit, site visits, or validation visits, will be carried out to to verify that the standards discussed at the office are being implemented on site. Companies with an annual turnover less than £250k will receive one validation visit, while all others will receive two each year. A typical site visit lasts approximately one hour.

Companies will be prompted to provide opportunities for validation visits shortly after the office visit has been completed, giving ample time to undertake any development work discussed at the office visit. The Scheme Monitor and company will agree on a date and location to conduct the validation visits.

The results of the office visit and subsequent site validation checks are combined to produce a final report and confirmed score for that company, which will then result in being awarded with a star rating (this is a rating out of five which companies can use to promote their performance).

As with the office visit, Monitors will again review a company’s considerate performance based on what they witness against the Code using the Monitors’ Checklist to ask questions and guide discussions.

The first validation visit will result in the Monitor providing an updated report and indicative score (normally in a range) based on the observations and discussions at the time of the visit. The report will highlight areas of good practice while also providing advice and guidance on how to further improve.

For companies that undertake smaller individual projects or jobs, a site visit may not be appropriate. If this is the case, there is the option of a ‘multi-visit’ where the Monitor will spend a couple of hours shadowing your company on one or more projects or jobs to ascertain your company’s overall level of performance. Where a multi-visit is appropriate, please note that only one will be conducted within each registration period following which you will be issued with a validated score and star rating.

For those companies that receive a second validation visit, the Monitor will once again update the report which will show a second indicative score and then a final score for that registration period. A star rating will also be confirmed based on this final score.

Additional visits can be purchased from the administration office at a cost of £170 (+ VAT) per additional standard visit and £300 (+ VAT) per additional multi-visit.

The Scheme also offers an advisory visit which involves a Monitor visiting your office to discuss the Scheme’s requirements in more detail and to offer advice on how your company might improve its scores. This can be arranged at a cost of £250 (+ VAT).

Companies will be prompted to provide opportunities for validation visits shortly after the office visit has been completed, giving ample time to undertake any development work discussed at the office visit. The Scheme Monitor and company will agree on a date and location to conduct the validation visits.

The onus will be on registered companies to provide suitable projects to allow Scheme Monitors to conduct the validation visits within the registration period. If validation visits are not conducted within the period, companies will not receive a confirmed score or a star rating.

If you have no work currently available that is suitable for assessment, please contact the administration office at the earliest opportunity to discuss the options available.

Please be aware that should your registration expire without any validation visits being conducted, you will not receive a confirmed score or a star rating. To be eligible for the annual National Awards, a confirmed score is required.

Companies are scored against the Code of Considerate Practice, where a score between 1 and 10 points is awarded in each of the five sections, giving a potential total score of 50 points. At the office visit, the Monitor will score the company within a range, for example 6-7 or 7-8, and then use the validation visits to either confirm the score, or flex it up or down accordingly.

For more information on scoring and what the points mean, please click here.

Any company registered with the Scheme must comply with the basic expectations stipulated by the Code of Considerate Practice.

Should a visit be deemed non-compliant in one or more section(s) of the Code of Considerate Practice, a letter will be sent along with the Monitor’s report, to the primary contact outlining the areas of concern.

If the non-compliance identified is minor (a score of 4 or 3 in any section), you’ll be given the chance to provide evidence to show that the issues have been suitably addressed or to provide any missing information from the day of the visit which may have resulted in the low score. This evidence will then be reviewed by the Monitor and the report will be amended accordingly, giving you the opportunity to increase your previous score and achieve compliance.

If the non-compliance identified is more serious (a score of 3 or 2 in any section), a further visit to your office/site will be required by the Scheme Monitor to ensure that the non-compliance issues have been fully addressed in order to improve the score given.

If the non-compliance identified is major (a score of 1 in any section), an office revisit will be required to discuss the issues before proceeding any further with your registration.

If, after a second visit, non-compliance continues, a decision will be made as to whether to allow registration with the Scheme to continue.

Where company registration is revoked, a letter will be issued, explaining the reason for the decision and requesting that all Scheme signage is removed with immediate effect. In this case, no refund will be given.

A certificate will be issued once each 12 month registration period has completed and all validation visits have been carried out as required. You will either receive a ‘Certificate of Compliance’ or a ‘Certificate of Performance beyond Compliance’. Certificates are based on the validated score companies receive following their final validation visit.

A ‘Certificate of Compliance’ is issued if companies score 5 or more points in each of the five sections of the Code.

To achieve a ‘Certificate of Performance beyond Compliance’, companies need to score 7 or more points in each of the five sections. Hard copies are available upon request.

The highest scoring companies will be considered to win a National Award. Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards are presented within project value bandings to the highest performers, with one Gold Award winner from each banding being presented with the prestigious title of Most Considerate Company.

Shortly before your registration is due to expire you will receive a renewal invitation by email. This invitation will attach details of the information currently held for your company and a pro forma invoice for the renewal fee based on the annual turnover figure previously declared.

This information should be checked checked carefully and you should notify the Scheme immediately of any changes. It is particularly important that the annual turnover figure is accurate to ensure the correct renewal fee is paid.

Changes to your annual turnover can also affect the duration of projects covered under your registration – conditions will be explained to you fully should a change occur.

If you are nearing the expiration of your registration and have not received this invitation, please call 0800 783 1423.

Please be aware that by choosing to continue registration, you agree to accept our terms and conditions. Full details are available here.

For companies with a turnover of £3.5m or higher, registration covers their work as a subcontractor and all work under six weeks duration; any projects longer than six weeks duration need to be registered separately.

However, any registered company that declares an increased turnover at re-registration taking them to £3.5m or higher (but less than £7.5m) will be given an amnesty for registering their longer duration projects until their turnover exceeds £7.5m, i.e. their registration will continue to cover all work including projects over six weeks and they will not need to be separately registered.

This approach rewards those smaller companies who registered with the Scheme who have then grown.

Note that this only applies to existing registered companies where the turnover increases above £3.5m at re-registration. Any new company registering for the first time with a turnover of £3.5m or higher will join on the standard basis, i.e. they will need to register their over six week projects separately under the Scheme’s Site Registration unless their turnover subsequently falls below £3.5m.

Please note that you will require your email address and password to log in (if you have forgotten your password, enter your email address and click ‘Login’ to be sent a reminder).

Once you have logged in, please click on ‘Company Registration’ and then the ‘Annual Fee Payment’ option. Here, you will be able to review and update the information currently held for your company, order any additional products required and choose your preferred payment method.

If you choose to pay by cheque or BACS a pro forma invoice will be automatically emailed to you to help you raise the payment. If you select to pay by credit card you will be redirected to our secure online payment page.

Upon renewal, a Monitor will revisit your office and review the previous year’s registration, confirmed score and star rating. After the office revisit report has been issued you will then receive your new ‘Certificate of Membership’ by email for your records.

A number of other helpful support documents are available to download from the Scheme’s Best Practice Hub, including a checklist for inducting operatives, parking notice, environmental policy and an incident report form. They can be downloaded and edited to suit your needs along with adding your company’s branding to keep for your records. Please note that the documents are to be used as a guide only and do not cover all laws and regulations with which a contractor has to comply with under legislation.